It was July 2004. Rebounding from a broken foot, Memmel finished fourth at the Olympic trials and was considered a favorite to make the team that would represent the United States in Athens.
Someone had decided it would be a good idea to turn the selection of the team into a kind of reality show. So it was broadcast live on national TV when Memmel was passed over in favor of vault specialists Mohini Bhardwaj and Annia Hatch.
"I think that's one of the worst ways you can announce a team, on live TV," said Memmel, who was chosen as an alternate on that team. "It was hard. I had done everything I could to make that team. Making alternate was great, given the [injury] situation, but it was still hard."
Memmel came back the next year to win the all-around gold medal at the world championships.
Then came the shoulder injury, suffered during the 2006 world championships.
Memmel had reconstructive surgery in November. Within two weeks, her arm still in a sling, she snuck onto a trampoline.
That's one way to bounce back.
"I was just doing simple backflips and front tucks," Memmel said. "I wouldn't have put myself in any kind of danger. I knew my limits. I just had to flip around and be a gymnast for a little bit."
The injury cost Memmel a chance to be on the 2007 U.S. team that won gold at the world championships - a team featuring the elegant Liukin and the fiery Johnson, the next wave of stars in this most unforgiving of sports.
While Team USA was in Stuttgart, Germany, Memmel was getting back into shape at M&M Gymnastics, the gym her father, Andy, operates in West Allis, Wis.
"We brought a computer into the gym and watched [the championship meet] online," the softspoken Andy Memmel said. "It wasn't really hard for her. It was more exciting. She wasn't part of it, but she knew she could be part of it."
It was going to be a long road back.
